Belarus v Mexico: Herrera relying on in-form Vela

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera is hoping for more brilliance from in-favour forward Carlos Vela when his side meet Belarus on Tuesday.

Published

16 November 2014

Vela stole the headlines on Wednesday with a brace as Mexico stunned Netherlands 3-2 in Amsterdam.

The Real Sociedad forward returned to the national team after a three-and-a-half-year absence as part of a much-changed squad from Herrera.

The charismatic coach picked just 11 players who were in Mexico's World Cup squad in his initial 22-man party.

And Vela showed him that he was right to make drastic changes, which included the axing of Oribe Peralta, combining excellently with Javier Hernandez - Mexico's other scorer - in the win.

The ex-Arsenal man is likely to play a role against Belarus and Herrera wants more of the same.

"He's an outstanding player," Herrera told the Mexico Football Federation website after the Netherlands win.

"We wanted [him] to show what he has always shown in Spain... and he did for his team.

"That's all we ask. I think he's focused on that - scoring goals, having fun, to play, to win, and earn a spot.

"The player is so important."

Netherlands' defending may have been poor against Mexico but their pressure on the hosts' defenders played a key role.

Herrera will be after more of the same as his side go in search of another win, against a side they have never played.

Mexico will be without George Corral, who has returned home for treatment on a knee injury, but have won four matches in a row, with Bolivia, Honduras and Panama all beaten before Netherlands were stunned.

In stark contrast, 106th-ranked Belarus have lost their last three, although there was little shame in their 3-0 loss in Spain on Saturday.

They sit second-bottom in Group C of Euro 2016 qualifying with just one point from four fixtures, but a 6-1 friendly win over Tajikistan in September did show their firepower.

Six different players scored on that occasion and their 1-0 win against Japan in a friendly last year also proved they are capable of the odd upset.